It is a time of fear in the face of freedom, a time of an emptying country and swelling cities, a time for the widening of previous roads and the opening of new paths, yet a time when these paths are mined by knowing algorithms of the all-seeing eye. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection. These are the times when maps fade, old landmarks crumble and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times.

The American public is given vague and empty assurances by the President that amount to little more than â€œtrust me.â€ But, we are a nation of laws and not of men. Where is the source of that authority he claims? I defy the Administration to show me where in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or the U.S. Constitution, they are allowed to steal into the lives of innocent America citizens and spy.

I continue to be shocked and astounded by the breadth with which the Administration undermines the constitutional protections afforded to the people, and the arrogance with which it rebukes the powers held by the Legislative and Judicial Branches. The President has cast off federal law, enacted by Congress, often bearing his own signature, as mere formality. He has rebuffed the rule of law, and he has trivialized and trampled upon the prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizures guaranteed to Americans by the United States Constitution.

We are supposed to accept these dirty little secrets. We are told that it is irresponsible to draw attention to President Bushâ€™s gross abuse of power and Constitutional violations. But what is truly irresponsible is to neglect to uphold the rule of law. We listened to the President speak last night on the potential for democracy in Iraq. He claims to want to instill in the Iraqi people a tangible freedom and a working democracy, at the same time he violates our own U.S. laws and checks and balances? President Bush called the recent Iraqi election â€œa landmark day in the history of liberty.â€ I dare say in this country we may have reached our own sort of landmark. Never have the promises and protections of Liberty seemed so illusory. Never have the freedoms we cherish seemed so imperiled.

These astounding revelations about the bending and contorting of the Constitution to justify a grasping, irresponsible Administration under the banner of â€œnational securityâ€ are an outrage. Congress can no longer sit on the sidelines. It is time to ask hard questions of the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Director of the CIA. The White House should not be allowed to exempt itself from answering the same questions simply because it might assert some kind of â€œexecutive privilegeâ€ in order to avoid further embarrassment.

“Virginians have told me three things,” Warner said. “That results matter, that they’re proud of the direction we’re going, and a third thing: You know, they really appreciate it when we work out our differences and work together to get things done.”

Um… isn’t that one thing? Getting stuff done, getting stuff done and getting stuff done? Don’t get me wrong. I like getting stuff done, but the only thing I’ll adore once, twice, three times is my lady. And I love her. I loooooooove her.

4. Kos notes that finally, finally all Democratic Party rivals to the Corzine-anointed Bob Menendez have stepped aside, avoiding the nasty, fractious details involved in that whole primary thing. Now Bob Menendez is assured of the Democratic Party nod in the fall 2006 race for the United States Senate. But, gee, wouldn’t it be nice for the citizens of New Jersey to have a say? No, right, that would be messy, right, support the troops, ok, I mean party, right, I forgot, ok, unity, right, it’s a good thing, ok, right, sure. But how about a choice? No? OK, I’m a bad, bad dog, unity, give me the collar, yes, whatever you say.

5. At Pursuing Holiness, Laura writes about The Book of Daniel, a TV show starring Aidan Quinn as a pill-popping Episcopal priest with a dysfunctional family who talks to Jesus, or maybe just “Jesus.” Writing from a Christian perspective, she’s decided she doesn’t like it, but her response to that dislike is refreshing:

Let me be clear: it offends me that Christians and Jesus are portrayed in this manner. It offends me that Christians are just about the only group that the entertainment industry seems incapable of understanding or at least portraying fairly.

On the other hand, youâ€™ve got perpetually offended Muslims – offended at the Burger King ice cream lid and insisting it be recalled. (It was.) Offended by the Red Cross – soon to be replaced by the Red Crescent and the Red Crystal in many places. Theyâ€™re offended by â€œJewishâ€ cookies. Plush toy pigs, pig figurines and piggy banks are disappearing in offices and even story time at schools in England due to Muslim ultra-sensitivity.

Is that the lead that Christians want to follow, living in a state of perpetual outrage and offense because the culture, which we already know is evil, is not compatible with our beliefs? Do we want to try to achieve change by brute force – huge numbers of us calling, emailing, and writing on this or that cause to force them to comply with our demands – or do we want to persuade others to join our side by seeing the inherent rightness and superiority of what we believe?

Jesus may have thrown the moneychangers out of the temple, but we arenâ€™t Jesus, and Hollywood and the idiot box are not the temple. Rather than react to this show, and others like it, why donâ€™t we respond to it?

6 comments to Tiptoe Through the Blogosphere With Me

Aidan Quinn’s character has some real flaws and makes some mistakes, but his heart’s in the right place. He’s always at least trying to do the right thing. The one thing he insists on is being tolerant and welcoming. Plus, it’s funny. Upon learning that a couple he’s giving marriage counseling to are already cohabitating, he says: “Wait a minute, you two are living together in sin?! . . . Just kidding.”

I think it presents Christianity a lot more dignity and sensitivity than Focus on the Family outing Spongebob or Pat Robertson issuing fatwas for Hugo Chavez.

“But, gee, wouldnâ€™t it be nice for the citizens of New Jersey to
have a say? No, right, that would be messy, right, support the
troops, ok, I mean party, right, I forgot, ok, unity, right, itâ€™s a good thing, ok, right, sure. But how about a choice?”

Hey, the citizens of Pennsylvania were deprived of a primary and
the right to pick their own Senate candidate (and our anointed guy
wasn’t even interested in going to Washington before the big money
was waved at him), so why should the Garden State get a better deal?

The Democratic Party nationally and in Pennsylvania is determined to beat Pennacchio, and support the right wing Democrat Bob Casey in his place. That includes Howard Dean, all you DFAers. Casey is a nasty character, hardly a Democrat at all.

From what I heard playing for affairs at political gatherings, right from the mouths of such as Casey, I really gathered that most of the politicals, no matter what stripe, kind of figured that the constitution, bill of rights (well, they kind of agreed ‘privileges’ was the right word) was like the AG talked about the Geneva Accords: quaint, outdated, naive…oh, they gave this freedom thing a try, it had its uses as a lever for power, but, it seemed that “democracy” was teeming with with those horrible, disgusting ‘demos’, interferred with what they wanted to do, and was therefore hopeless on both counts. I heard a judicial candidate, a real ‘man of the people’ opine that ‘maybe it’s time to take the toys from the boys’ when discussing this ‘freedom’ issue.

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